Capital Budget Requests

Overview of the Development Process for Capital Projects & Ten-Year Capital Plan

The intent of this document is to provide a general overview of Central Washington University’s process to develop capital projects and update the ten-year capital plan (budget).

A ten-year plan guides the development of university buildings and grounds. The state requires public universities to engage in long-range planning for buildings and grounds--capital facilities. A comprehensive, ten-year plan guides university decision making about capital facilities and informs state budget decisions about academic buildings and infrastructure. The ten-year plan identifies future needs and capital projects to address them. The plan must support the university’s mission and the goals and objectives of the institution’s strategic plan and campus facilities master plan.

It takes about ten months to update the ten-year plan: lay out a process for the community, set priorities, and integrate each respective project budget and schedule into the long-range capital plan. CWU completed an update of the ten-year plan in fall 2013, and engaged a wide audience in the development of the plan. Participants included the Cities of Ellensburg, Thorp, and Kittitas; Kittitas County; state agencies; and the staff, students, faculty, and administrators of CWU.

Every two years, in the fall of even-numbered years, CWU makes a capital budget request to the state.The priorities within this request arise out of and must complement the ten-year plan. The first step is a campus-wide invitation, in the fall of odd-numbered years, to participate in the process by identifying a needed project to address an academic program need. These requests also result from divisional goals and objectives and may include qualitative changes in space as well as simply more space.

Chairs review and recommend departmental proposals; vice presidents prioritize the proposals within their divisions. Cabinet makes the final assessment and identifies final priorities recommended to the Board of Trustees in the spring. If approved, these projects will go forward as a formal budget request.

Facilities Planning & Development (FPD) oversees the planning, budget estimating, and developing each respective capital budget request. The Department of Public Affairs interprets legislative priorities for the capital budget and collaborates with staff, faculty, and students to articulate CWU needs to policymakers.